Having a tough time catching bass in the late fall and winter? Try slowing down and targeting the natural bass instinct with a jerkbait! Introducing the brand new MONSTERBASS Slick Stick 110 jerkbait. This lure does it all and more. Check out John with @Mongo Fishing dropping some awesome jerkbait bass fishing tips!

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Video transcript:

John Carroll:
Hey, what's up guys? John from Mongo Fishing. I'm here on the Monster Bass channel, and today I want to talk to you guys about the Monster Bass Slick Stick 110 suspending jerkbait that came in the November Monster Bass box.

John Carroll:
But before we get into this, make sure you guys hit the Subscribe button right down there, along with the bell notification button, so you guys get notified every time Monster Bass comes out with another video.

John Carroll:
Now, ouch, let's get into this. All right, guys, so jerkbaits. These things can be thrown year round, but they really, really shine from fall through, let's say, pre-spawn. But some guys throw them year round.

John Carroll:
You just work them faster or slower, depending on the water temp in the area you're dealing with. As the water temp drops and the bass become more lethargic, you got to slow down working the jerkbait. As the water temps warm up in the spring, you can start working this thing a little faster.

John Carroll:
All right, guys. So what exactly is this? All right. This is the Monster Bass Slick Stick 110, 110 millimeters long. It weighs a half ounce and suspend, dives down four to six feet and will suspend down there.

John Carroll:
It has a sweet weight transfer system. I'm not sure if you can see it, but there's three ball bearings right there and then one big one right here in the cheek. When you cast this thing, force will send these things in these three back here to the back and this one, the big one at the head will drop down to about right there. Send this thing flying, you make some really bomb casts. When it lands, they fall back forward. This just rotated back into place. These will fall back into place up here, and now it'll suspend nice and flat.

John Carroll:
Has three extremely sticky, sharp hooks, which, in my opinion, is probably the most important thing with any jerkbait. Sticky, sharp hooks are imperative. You have to have sticky, sharp hooks. As you fish these, check your hooks, check them often. If you have to replace them, replace them with the same size or maybe even just a little bit smaller. I typically replace and go with light wire hooks, only because I think they get better hook penetration. The downside of that is they're light wires so they'll bend out easier so more hookups. But I can also lose fish with them straightening out the hooks.

John Carroll:
But the reason why you need such sharp hooks is because the way a bass, what they do when they hit this is they'll suck this thing in. They'll suck it in and they'll spit it back out and you may never know that you even had that bite. If you have dull hooks, that fish is not going to get stuck at all. Basically, you need that fish to hook himself. Well, you don't need it, but it'll certainly help so stupid sticky, sharp hooks. They suck it in and they spit back out. They get a mouth full of metal and now your hookup ratio will increase significantly.

John Carroll:
So how do you work a jerkbait? These things are actually really simple to use. They just take a little bit of practice. So you cast it out, it hits the water, you reel it back a few cranks to get this thing down to the desired depth. If you're fishing shallow, shallower than the four to six feet that this thing is rated for, then as soon as it hits, start working it right there. You don't need to dive it down.

John Carroll:
But basically every movement starts and stops with a slack line on your rod. So it's just a quick snap of the wrist from a slack line and so you'll snap and snap right back in place. You don't snap and hold it. It's down and back really fast.

John Carroll:
What that does is it causes this thing to dart off to the side. You snap it again and it darts again. If you have a tight line and do that, what happens is it kind of darts forward or it'll swim. It doesn't actually do this dying shed motion of darting off to the side. So the cadence, snap, snap, pause. What happens is snap, snap and then it just pauses right there. Then when you, again slack line, snap, snap again, it'll dart again.

John Carroll:
Your bites 99% of the time are going to come when it's sitting still. That's why I had mentioned earlier in the video that the water temp dictates your cadence and how long you've had this thing sit. The colder the water, the longer it's going to sit. Nice and warm water, you can work this thing faster. Cold water, you may have to let this thing sit 10, 15 seconds in between snaps or in between pops. So it'll be like snap, snap, and then wait, snap and then wait. Again, depending on your water temp, that'll dictate how long you need to wait. The colder, the longer.

John Carroll:
But the number one thing to that is every motion starts and stops with the slack line. Snap, snap, snap, just like that. It's pretty simple. It just takes a little bit of practice. I mean, I taught my dad how to use a jerkbait a few years ago. He used an ugly stick on a spinning rod with 10-pound mono. I mean, it's not a hard technique. You just got to give it some time, give it some practice. You can pick it up. Just get out there, tie one on and dedicate yourself to throwing that all day. You'll eventually get the hang of it.

John Carroll:
All right. So rod, reel and line. Okay. I'm not a big proponent of telling people to go out and buy a rod and reel specifically for technique. It helps, sure, but it's not a necessity. It's a luxury.

John Carroll:
This is a TP1 Speed Stick. It's a 6'8". I like to throw jerkbaits in the 6'8" to 7" range. This is a medium light fast. A medium fast also works. Possibly even a medium heavy fast if it's a light medium heavy, if that makes sense.

John Carroll:
The example I use, the mock speed stick, the loose mock speed stick. This little guy right here. This is considered a medium heavy fast. I use it because I can bomb small jerkbaits really far. So this is kind of the exception of when I'll use a medium heavy, but it's actually not even really that heavy. It's still pretty soft tip, but it's a light rod. I can still do the light line rod so I can still bomb small jerkbaits like the XRM 80, bomb that thing really far with that. That's actually why I still use that rod quite a bit.

John Carroll:
Gear ratio, a 6:1 or faster. I typically use a 7:1. I think both of those are both 7:1.

John Carroll:
All right, line. I like to use between eight and 12-pound test. The lighter the line you go, the deeper you can get that jerkbait to go. The downside is the lighter the line, the easier it is for it to break. So you got to make sure your drag is set just right. You don't want to have a tight drag. You don't want to have a tight drag with jerkbaits anyway.

John Carroll:
The fish don't always get a really good hook set. Sometimes they actually just kind of slap at the bait and they end up with the bait on the outside of their mouth and you'll end up pulling that hook super fast. So you got to have a light line, light drag, let the fish play themselves out. Too tight of a drag, you're going to end up losing fish if you're trying to muscle them in all the time. So let them fight it out and you'll lose a lot less fish, especially with light wire hooks if you happen to go that route.

John Carroll:
All right, where to throw it. Open water, obviously, alongside docks, under docks, if you can get it. Can't really skip it very well, but if you can pitch one underneath the dock, that works. Seawalls, bluff walls, outside edge of grass lines, if you still happen to have grass.

John Carroll:
Where you don't want to use it is inside edge of grass lines because all those triple hooks, you're going to get stuck all the time. Not really friendly with timber. They'll get stuck in wood quite a bit also so you need to be careful. You'll end up losing a lot of jerkbaits if you start throwing around trees and stuff like that. So open water is your best bet.

John Carroll:
That's about it, guys. You guys have any questions, feel free to drop them down below. Again, my name is John from Mongo Fishing. My channel will be linked down in the description below. I'd be honored if you came over and checked out my channel also. Again, if you have not hit the Subscribe button, it's right down there, along with the bell notification button.

John Carroll:
Thank you guys very much for watching. As always, get on the water, be safe and go stick some lumps.